Ms MARTIN - 2000-10-11
The Treasurer’s quarterly financial statement was released last week according to formats the Treasurer himself sets rather than to national accounting standards. Close scrutiny of the statement shows that even though it took nearly three months to release, it is wrong. Not just a little typo, but a $100m error between figures in the gross and net tables. I seek leave to table a copy of that, Mr Speaker.
Leave granted.
Ms MARTIN: I would like to also send a copy across to the Treasurer in case he has not looked at them. It is important that you see this before I ask the next bit of the question.
Further, the Treasurer reported the budget outcome in net terms against a so-called revised budget which the Treasurer claims was tabled in the Legislative Assembly when no such tables have seen the light of day in this House. So, Treasurer, doesn’t this simply mean Territorians are having to deal with Reed’s rubbery figures? Will you now explain this $100m error.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the first thing I would like to do is make some reference, and indeed correction, to the assertion by the Leader of the Opposition that the statement was late. She has not been in this House very long and in the time that she has been here she has not paid attention to past events. It would be educational for her to learn, given that she was asleep during the course of the last two years, that it is not unusual for the June quarterlies to be slightly later than the other quarterlies because of the audit process for the end of the year. You would appreciate that tying up the arrangements for the preceding year is a more complicated process than the quarterlies throughout the year. That was further exacerbated by the fact that this year there were additional issues to be addressed, in terms of the GST, the changed taxation arrangements, and the additional time that was required to ensure that that was pursued in an appropriate way. Further, June quarterlies are often not published until September or later - 3 September 1999 and 16 October in 1998. This year audit did not commence until 4 September and the quarterlies were ready for publication soon after.
So, again she cannot handle the truth, this lady. She has an enormous problem with the truth. Couldn’t tell the truth about Maurice’s car problem. Couldn’t tell the truth about Catherine also known as Adele. Adele, you just use another name because I don’t want it reflecting on me. Couldn’t tell us the truth about the fact that …
Ms Martin: And this is the man who said he was researching in a Kings Cross video shop.
Mr REED: No, no, that was your word.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: They were your words. ‘Researching’ was your word, not my word. And I use that interjection again as a demonstration that this lady cannot handle the truth. ‘Research’ was your word. Nor has she been honest enough with Territorians to tell us that it was a contrived arrangement between John Bailey and herself that led to the Catherine also known as Adele arrangement which she kept secret.
Mr TOYNE: Point of Order, Mr Speaker. He is not even vaguely near the question that was asked regarding $100m in the financial report.
Mr SPEAKER: Yes, look there is far too much interjection. You have to expect that where there is interjection it may well be responded to, and it can divert the minister from answering the question as you would wish. But I would say that, generally, answers are going too long and they are going too long often because of interjection. I will leave it to the minister to answer the question as he sees fit.
Mr REED: Thank you, Mr Speaker. In terms of the truthfulness of the Leader of the Opposition, if that is what she is going to set as a benchmark, then she was only exposed as being untruthful by that particular case, the Catherine also known as Adele show, by the ABC Media Watch report. So that is your benchmark and you leave that to yourselves, because that is what you have to answer to in relation to Territorians.
As regards the other suggestions that the honourable Leader of the Opposition has made in relation to the report, a page of which she has tabled, I will get back to her on that because they have priors in incorrectly interpreting the books.
Leave granted.
Ms MARTIN: I would like to also send a copy across to the Treasurer in case he has not looked at them. It is important that you see this before I ask the next bit of the question.
Further, the Treasurer reported the budget outcome in net terms against a so-called revised budget which the Treasurer claims was tabled in the Legislative Assembly when no such tables have seen the light of day in this House. So, Treasurer, doesn’t this simply mean Territorians are having to deal with Reed’s rubbery figures? Will you now explain this $100m error.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the first thing I would like to do is make some reference, and indeed correction, to the assertion by the Leader of the Opposition that the statement was late. She has not been in this House very long and in the time that she has been here she has not paid attention to past events. It would be educational for her to learn, given that she was asleep during the course of the last two years, that it is not unusual for the June quarterlies to be slightly later than the other quarterlies because of the audit process for the end of the year. You would appreciate that tying up the arrangements for the preceding year is a more complicated process than the quarterlies throughout the year. That was further exacerbated by the fact that this year there were additional issues to be addressed, in terms of the GST, the changed taxation arrangements, and the additional time that was required to ensure that that was pursued in an appropriate way. Further, June quarterlies are often not published until September or later - 3 September 1999 and 16 October in 1998. This year audit did not commence until 4 September and the quarterlies were ready for publication soon after.
So, again she cannot handle the truth, this lady. She has an enormous problem with the truth. Couldn’t tell the truth about Maurice’s car problem. Couldn’t tell the truth about Catherine also known as Adele. Adele, you just use another name because I don’t want it reflecting on me. Couldn’t tell us the truth about the fact that …
Ms Martin: And this is the man who said he was researching in a Kings Cross video shop.
Mr REED: No, no, that was your word.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: They were your words. ‘Researching’ was your word, not my word. And I use that interjection again as a demonstration that this lady cannot handle the truth. ‘Research’ was your word. Nor has she been honest enough with Territorians to tell us that it was a contrived arrangement between John Bailey and herself that led to the Catherine also known as Adele arrangement which she kept secret.
Mr TOYNE: Point of Order, Mr Speaker. He is not even vaguely near the question that was asked regarding $100m in the financial report.
Mr SPEAKER: Yes, look there is far too much interjection. You have to expect that where there is interjection it may well be responded to, and it can divert the minister from answering the question as you would wish. But I would say that, generally, answers are going too long and they are going too long often because of interjection. I will leave it to the minister to answer the question as he sees fit.
Mr REED: Thank you, Mr Speaker. In terms of the truthfulness of the Leader of the Opposition, if that is what she is going to set as a benchmark, then she was only exposed as being untruthful by that particular case, the Catherine also known as Adele show, by the ABC Media Watch report. So that is your benchmark and you leave that to yourselves, because that is what you have to answer to in relation to Territorians.
As regards the other suggestions that the honourable Leader of the Opposition has made in relation to the report, a page of which she has tabled, I will get back to her on that because they have priors in incorrectly interpreting the books.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016